Ferris State Set For This Weekend's GLIAC Softball Tournament

Leading Off: The Ferris State University
softball team will step onto the diamond this weekend (May
6-8) for the 2011 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (GLIAC) Softball Tournament in hopes of winning the
conference tournament and receiving an automatic NCAA Division II
Tournament bid. The Bulldogs, who are the tourney's sixth
seed, will go up against three-seed Saginaw Valley State this
Friday (May 6) in the opening round of the double-elimination
tournament. Opening pitch between the two teams is slated for
noon (EDT) at Northwood University's Fisher Stadium in Midland,
Mich., with the winner advancing to face the winner of
the Ashland-Northwood contest at 4 p.m. (EDT).

2011 GLIAC Tournament: The
eight-team 2011 GLIAC Tournament field, which includes Ferris
State, is also comprised of number-one seed Tiffin, which is ranked 23rd nationally in the latest
National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25
Poll. Ashland is the number two seed while Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State are seeded third and fourth,
respectively. Northwood is the fifth seed, Ferris State is seeded
sixth, Wayne State is the seventh seed, and Hillsdale is seeded eighth. Due to wet field
conditions at the Emerson Park Fields in Midland, Mich., the
2011 GLIAC Tourney will now be conducted at both Northwood's
Fisher Stadium and at the Saginaw Valley State Softball
Field. Please click on this 2011 GLIAC Softball Tournament link for more
information.

Ferris State Record: Ferris State is 21-21
overall, which includes an 18-12 mark in the GLIAC's
North Division this season. The Bulldogs, who have won
five of their last six outings to date, closed out the regular
season with a pair of conference home victories over Northwood, 2-1
and 9-0 in six innings, last Sunday (May 1) at the FSU Softball
Field in Big Rapids, Mich. Ferris State is presently 9-5
at home, 9-7 on the road, and 3-9 at neutral sites this
spring.

Ferris State - Keri Becker
(Saginaw Valley State, 1995), 14th season, 430-274-1 (.611).
Becker, the all-time winningest coach in Ferris State's Softball
history, has guided the Bulldogs to three (1998, 1999, and 2008)
NCAA Division II National Softball Championship Tournament
appearances. The 1998 squad placed third nationally while the 1999
team set a school record for single-season victories (46 total).
The 2008 squad tied for fifth-place honors after capturing the
NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional title. Becker, who has been recognized
as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (GLIAC)
Coach of the Year three times (1997, 2003, and 2008) was a member
of the 2008 National Fastpitch Coaches Association's (NFCA)/NCAA
Division II Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the
Year.

Becker Among The Best: Prior to this 2011
season, FSU head coach Keri Becker
ranked 42nd among the NCAA Division II's active softball head
coaches in victories (409) and was 45th in winning percentage
(.618). Becker is listed 58th nationally by percentage
among the winningest all-time NCAA Division II coaches.

Bulldog Bites: The Bulldogs
have three players with at least 40 base hits this season, led
by junior first baseman Chelsea Morris' (Jenison)
48 total while junior third baseman Makenzi
Peterson (Big Rapids) and junior outfielder
Stephanie Dusendang (Comstock Park/Rockford) have
46 and 42 hits, respectively. The trio have presently
combined to generate 37.2% (136-366) of the team's total hits
output this campaign . . . Ferris State has outscored its
opponent by 21 runs (50-29) in the fifth inning this
season . . . The Bulldogs are 19-3 when leading after
five innings and 0-16 when trailing following the first five frames
. . . Chelsea Morris' squad and career-best 44
RBIs this spring is three shy of equalling Nadine Crowl's (1999; 47
RBIs) second-place total on FSU's single-season RBI leaders
chart. Morris, who also has accumulated 60 career RBIs in 92
contests, is one shy of moving into a 24th-place tie with Staci
Leyko (1994-97; 61 career total).

Long Ball Slugger:Chelsea
Morris' team-leading nine home runs this season in 42
games represents a tie for the second-highest output among the
program's all-time single-season leaders. Morris, who's
currently tied with Jody Gifford (1999), Nicki Merchant (2003), and
Emily McLean (2005), is one shy of equalling Jody
Gifford's school-record 10 roundtrippers established in the
1998 season.

Strikeout Machine: Sophomore pitcher
Dana Bowler's (Lockport, Ill.) 12 strikeouts
against Northwood last Sunday (May 1) represented a career
single-game high, bettering her 11 strikeouts a season ago (Apr.
19) at Lake Superior State. Bowler, who needs five more
strikeouts to match her 118 total in 20 appearances last season,
has fanned 113 batters in 27 outings this campaign to date.
Bowler currently ranks seventh on FSU's all-time pitching
leaders with 231 career strikeouts and is 21 away from tying
Mary Gnatkowski (1982-85; 252 career strikeouts) and Amy
Kilbourn (1992-95; 252 career strikeouts) for fifth-place
honors.

Past GLIAC Tourney Results: Ferris State has
compiled a 9-8 record (.529) since 2005 in GLIAC Tournament
contests. A season ago, the GLIAC Tournament was
cancelled due to weather and wet field conditions at the Emerson
Softball Complex in Midland, Mich. In the 2009 season, the
Bulldogs registered a 1-2 mark in conference tourney play (May
1-2), prevailing 6-4 over Northwood (May 1) before suffering a 9-5
loss to Saginaw Valley State (May 1) and a 4-0 setback to Wayne
State (May 2). Ferris State captured its second conference
tournament title in 2005 (May 6-7) as the Bulldogs won all four of
their tourney contests.

Crimson & Gold's 39th Season: The 2011
campaign represents the 39th season of varsity competition for the
Ferris State Softball program. The Bulldogs are
currently 789-685-3 overall (.535) since the program's
inception in 1973. During that period, FSU has compiled 19
20-plus win seasons, including three consecutive (1997-99) 40 or
more victory campaigns.

A Season Ago: The 2010 Bulldogs registered a
26-16 overall record, which included a third-place
tying 17-9 GLIAC mark. FSU's 26 victories a
season ago tied for the 11th most single-season wins in the
program's history.

NCAA Tournament History: FSU made its seventh
NCAA-II Regional Tournament appearance in 2009 and its fourth trip
in the last five years. The Bulldogs compiled a 2-2-0 mark in
the double-elimination 2009 sub-Midwest Regional Tourney (March 8
& 10) held at University Center, Mich. Ferris State was
crowned Great Lakes Regional Tournament champions in 2008 and went
on to a fifth-place tying showing at the National Softball
Championships in Houston, Texas. The Bulldogs, who are 24-13
all-time in NCAA Tournament competition, have made three national
tournament appearances (1998, 1999, and 2008) to date in their
program's history. The 1998 team posted a 3-2 tourney mark en
route to placing third in Ferris' national tourney debut.

Bulldog Athletics Twitbook: Ferris State
Bulldog Softball fans now can have access to additional
information on the 2011 team via Twitter at twitter.com/ferrisathletics.

On The Internet: Ferris State University
Athletics' official web site can be found at www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com.
The site features information on all of FSU's varsity athletics
programs including rosters, statistics, and more.

2011 GLIAC Standings: Fans can view the
complete 2011 GLIAC Standings at this link - GLIAC Standings. Information for the conference
overall and individual statistical leaders is available at GLIAC Statistics.

National Statistical Leaders: Both NCAA
Division II team and individual national statistical leaders for
the 2011 season is available by clicking on this link.
Ferris State's rankings, both team and individual, can be accessed
via this link.

2011 NCAA Regional Rankings: The latest (April
27) NCAA Division II regional rankings used to assist the selection
committee for choosing the field of 64 teams to compete in the 2011
NCAA Tournament are available for viewing at this link.